Disposal of medical laboratory vials that contain a scintillation liquid has become a matter of concern since federal regulations on hazardous waste disposal has regulated the disposal of toxic liquids. The restrictions on the disposal of scintillation liquids are caused primarily by the flammability and toxicity of the liquids, such as toluene, xylene, and pseudocumene, rather than the radioactivity of the liquids.
Medical vials containing a scintillation liquid are either formed from glass or plastic and are closed by a plastic threaded cap. In the past, liquid scintillation vials have generally been disposed of through off-site shipment. In this method of disposal, the vials are packed in 55 gallon drums and shipped to disposal sites. As each vial contains only about an average of 10 milliliters of liquid, the drum will only dispose of about 36 liters of liquid. This results in an extremely high cost for disposal as compared to the amount of liquid contained in the drum.
It is not feasible to manually unthread the caps on the vials, empty the liquid, and then separately dispose of the liquid and vials, due to the multitude of vials and the high cost of labor. Moreover, manually opening the vials and emptying the contents can expose the workers to toxic vapors generated by the liquids.
No practical crushing method has been devised to crush the vials and separate the liquid so that the liquid and vials can be separately disposed of, the problem being that plastic vials and caps are exceedingly tough and resilient and, as such, are extremely difficult to crush or tear so that the liquid can be removed. Further, crushing of the vials to separate the liquid can result in a serious air pollution problem due to the generation of vapors or fumes from the liquid.